Monday, April 18, 2016

Politics 2016

English has some evocative, anthropomorphic
collective nouns for groups of animals. For example, a group of lions is a
pride, of whales is a pod, of crows is a murder, and of geese is a flock. One
the loudest, most obnoxious, aggressive, and least intelligent primates is the
baboon. A group of baboons is, perhaps appropriately, a congress.

Pundits frequently bemoan the lack of great
candidates running to become the next president of the United States. A woman
with whom I recently spoke voiced considerable frustration that in a nation of
300 million plus people, the political process could not identify stronger
candidates. She also lamented the apparent dominance of the political process
by a handful of families.

Democracy breaks down when citizens cease to feel that
they own the political process. Among worrisome signs of this disengagement
from politics are (1) lower voting rates, (2) fewer people identifying with a
political party, (3) political outcomes that increasingly benefit the
privileged few, and (4) describing the government as "them" rather
than "us."

Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have both tapped
into this disaffection, albeit from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sanders
is a self-described socialist who caucuses with the Democrats although not a member
of the party. Trump lacks political experience and often attracts supporters
who identify with his disdain for politics even though they disagree with his
policy positions.

What would Jesus do?

First, Jesus understood human connectivity. Jesus described
himself as the vine and his followers as branches. This metaphor emphasizes the
essential connectivity between people through which life flows. The Apostle
Paul described the Church as the body of Christ. In this metaphor, life and
usefulness both depend upon a member's connection to the body. More broadly, the
Psalmist describes humans as God's vice regents to whom God has entrusted the
responsibility of caring for creation. This metaphor, which was familiar to Jesus
who was a Jew and steeped in the Scriptures, underscores the mutual
interdependence of all life and the key role that humans play in sustaining
creation.

Second, the aim of politics for God's people is
about living together peacefully. Peace, in both Greek and Hebrew, denotes the
fullness of human flourishing and well-being. Because of our connections to one
another and to creation, peace results only when all flourish and have equal
opportunity to achieve well-being. Jesus, himself a political animal, sought to
promote human flourishing in his teaching, healings, and way of life. Similarly,
Jesus calls his followers to be peacemakers.

Third, I think that Jesus would weep over the
current state of politics in the United States. He would find the almost
complete absence of concern about other people disheartening and see the
proclivity of Christians to promote narrowly focused, self-serving agendas as
clear evidence that his alleged followers had failed to comprehend the basics precepts
of his teachings and love.

Perhaps recovering Jesus' political agenda in 2016
begins with getting to know Jesus again, and then attempting to imagine him onstage
in both Republican and Democrat presidential debates.